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iPhone J.D. is the oldest and largest website for lawyers using iPhones and iPads. iPhone J.D. is published by Jeff Richardson, an attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana. This site does not provide legal advice, and any opinions expressed on this site are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of Jeff's law firm, Adams and Reese LLP. iPhone J.D. is not associated with Apple, Inc.

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FTC Notice

Pursuant to 16 CFR Part 255, the Federal Trade Commission's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, please note: (1) iPhone software and hardware developers routinely send me free versions of their products to review. I sometimes keep and continue to use these products that I did not pay for after posting my review, which might be considered a form of compensation for my review, but I do not believe that I let that color my review. (2) When I post links to product pages on certain stores, including but not limited to Amazon and the iTunes App Store, my links include a referral code so that when products are purchased after clicking on the link, I often receive a very small percentage of the sale. This helps to defray some of the cost of running this site, and gives me a small vested interest in having readers of iPhone J.D. purchase products using these links. Again I do not believe that I let that color my review of products. (3) Some of the ads that run on this website are selected by others such as Amazon or Google. If one of these ads comes from the seller of a product reviewed on iPhone J.D., that is a coincidence and I do not believe that it colors my review of that product. Other ads are from paid advertisers, and if I discuss a product from a company that is an advertiser, I will note that. (4) Some of the ads that run on this website are from monthly sponsors of iPhone J.D. When I discuss products from these companies on iPhone J.D., I do so to pass along information provided to me by the sponsor. Often, I will also provide my own commentary on the product, and while my goal is to be honest, please keep in mind that I was compensated to promote the product. If you have any questions about this, just send me an e-mail or post a comment on a specific product review.

September 07, 2012

In the news

There was no In the news last week because my house had no electricity due to Hurricane Isaac, so in today's issue I'm pointing out some interesting articles I've seen over the last two weeks. Of course, the biggest news right now is that in just a few days, on September 12, Apple is going to announce the new iPhone, and presumably will also release iOS 6. As we wait to learn more about that big news, here are the other news items of note:

Rocket Matter is a cloud-based legal billing and law practice management solution for small and medium larger firms, and I know many attorneys who use and love the service. This week, Rocket Matter announced a new iPhone app, so attorneys who use the service while on-the-go no longer need to use a more cumbersome web-based interface. The app looks really nice.

San Francisco attorney Deanne Katz of FindLaw recommends external keyboards for the iPad. My favorite combination is the Apple Wireless Keyboard with the Incase Origami Workstation.

Saul Elbein of the New York Times reports that Paris, Texas Judge Bill Harris decided a complicated and controversial oil pipeline condemnation suit by sending a 15-word ruling from his iPhone.

California attorney Morgan Smith explains his verdict calculator for iPad and gives you a link so that you can download it yourself. It requires Apple's Numbers app.

iOS 6 will have a lot of great new features for iPhones and iPads when it comes out (presumably next week). One change is that the Maps app will no longer use information from Google Maps and instead will use Apple's own map information. This means that we will no longer have Google Street View, but we will have Flyover, which uses detailed 3D models. Daniel Eran Dilger of RoughlyDrafted Magazine has a great explanation of what will be new in Maps.

David Pogue of the New York Times recommends apps that let your iPhone act like a walkie talkie to send quick voice messages to another person instead of text messages.

Joe Kissell of Macworld recommends apps to edit Microsoft Excel files on the iPad. I usually use Appple's Numbers app to do this.

Dan Miller of Macworld discusses three cloud-based solutions for running Microsoft Office on an iPad.

Jeff Gamet of The Mac Observer reports that Delta Airlines is providing 4,500 iPads to airport restaurants so that diners can order meals using the iPads, and then use them to check news, weather, etc. I'd much rather use my own iPad when I travel, but I'll be interested to see what becomes of this.

Speaking of flying, I wish that I could use my iPhone or iPad during takeoff and lasting — not to talk on the phone, but just to use the device. Todd Shields of Bloomberg reports that the FAA is now studying letting people do that.

Reporter Harry McCracken of Time explains whey the iPad is his favorite computer and what he uses to do most of his work.

Katherine Boehret of the Wall Street Journal / All Things D has a good list of iPhone tips and tricks.

TeleNav, a company which provides GPS navigation software, conducted a national survey and learned that 83% of iPhone users believe that other iPhone users make the best romantic partners, and 33% of respondents would rather give up sex for a week than give up their mobile phone.

If you are around my age, then chances are you remember using an Atari 2600 in the early 1980s, and you know that some of the best games were made by Activision — the first third-party publisher of video games for consoles. Last week, Activation released a free app called Activision Anthology that lets you play some of those great 2600 games on an iPhone or iPad. You need to buy the classic games (like Pitfall) in the app, but it comes with one free game, and it was one of my favorite games when I was a kid: Kaboom! Using a finger to play the game doesn't seem right — that game was the best ever use of a paddle controller — but it is fun to see the sights and sounds of a great game from 1981. (I wonder what ever happened to my Activision Bucket Brigade patch?) Click here for Activision Anthology (free):

And finally, while you are playing those video games from the early 1980s, why not also blow the dust off the box containing your old cassette tapes and convert them to MP3 files that your iPhone can play? Later this month, Hammacher Schlemer will start selling the Cassette to iPod Convertor, an $80 device that turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a cassette player and recorder. I think I still have some cassette tapes stuffed into a box somewhere around here, but I can only imagine how disappointing the sound quality would be if I tried to play them today. You may make better use of your $80 by just purchasing those songs from iTunes. Nevertheless, this device does look amusing:

Comments

In the news

There was no In the news last week because my house had no electricity due to Hurricane Isaac, so in today's issue I'm pointing out some interesting articles I've seen over the last two weeks. Of course, the biggest news right now is that in just a few days, on September 12, Apple is going to announce the new iPhone, and presumably will also release iOS 6. As we wait to learn more about that big news, here are the other news items of note:

Rocket Matter is a cloud-based legal billing and law practice management solution for small and medium larger firms, and I know many attorneys who use and love the service. This week, Rocket Matter announced a new iPhone app, so attorneys who use the service while on-the-go no longer need to use a more cumbersome web-based interface. The app looks really nice.

San Francisco attorney Deanne Katz of FindLaw recommends external keyboards for the iPad. My favorite combination is the Apple Wireless Keyboard with the Incase Origami Workstation.

Saul Elbein of the New York Times reports that Paris, Texas Judge Bill Harris decided a complicated and controversial oil pipeline condemnation suit by sending a 15-word ruling from his iPhone.

California attorney Morgan Smith explains his verdict calculator for iPad and gives you a link so that you can download it yourself. It requires Apple's Numbers app.

iOS 6 will have a lot of great new features for iPhones and iPads when it comes out (presumably next week). One change is that the Maps app will no longer use information from Google Maps and instead will use Apple's own map information. This means that we will no longer have Google Street View, but we will have Flyover, which uses detailed 3D models. Daniel Eran Dilger of RoughlyDrafted Magazine has a great explanation of what will be new in Maps.

David Pogue of the New York Times recommends apps that let your iPhone act like a walkie talkie to send quick voice messages to another person instead of text messages.

Joe Kissell of Macworld recommends apps to edit Microsoft Excel files on the iPad. I usually use Appple's Numbers app to do this.

Dan Miller of Macworld discusses three cloud-based solutions for running Microsoft Office on an iPad.

Jeff Gamet of The Mac Observer reports that Delta Airlines is providing 4,500 iPads to airport restaurants so that diners can order meals using the iPads, and then use them to check news, weather, etc. I'd much rather use my own iPad when I travel, but I'll be interested to see what becomes of this.

Speaking of flying, I wish that I could use my iPhone or iPad during takeoff and lasting — not to talk on the phone, but just to use the device. Todd Shields of Bloomberg reports that the FAA is now studying letting people do that.

Reporter Harry McCracken of Time explains whey the iPad is his favorite computer and what he uses to do most of his work.

Katherine Boehret of the Wall Street Journal / All Things D has a good list of iPhone tips and tricks.

TeleNav, a company which provides GPS navigation software, conducted a national survey and learned that 83% of iPhone users believe that other iPhone users make the best romantic partners, and 33% of respondents would rather give up sex for a week than give up their mobile phone.

If you are around my age, then chances are you remember using an Atari 2600 in the early 1980s, and you know that some of the best games were made by Activision — the first third-party publisher of video games for consoles. Last week, Activation released a free app called Activision Anthology that lets you play some of those great 2600 games on an iPhone or iPad. You need to buy the classic games (like Pitfall) in the app, but it comes with one free game, and it was one of my favorite games when I was a kid: Kaboom! Using a finger to play the game doesn't seem right — that game was the best ever use of a paddle controller — but it is fun to see the sights and sounds of a great game from 1981. (I wonder what ever happened to my Activision Bucket Brigade patch?) Click here for Activision Anthology (free):

And finally, while you are playing those video games from the early 1980s, why not also blow the dust off the box containing your old cassette tapes and convert them to MP3 files that your iPhone can play? Later this month, Hammacher Schlemer will start selling the Cassette to iPod Convertor, an $80 device that turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a cassette player and recorder. I think I still have some cassette tapes stuffed into a box somewhere around here, but I can only imagine how disappointing the sound quality would be if I tried to play them today. You may make better use of your $80 by just purchasing those songs from iTunes. Nevertheless, this device does look amusing: